I got to step 4 [Press e for edit] with ease. Step 5 is impossible, because there was no line that began with "kernel". Instead, I chose "LinuxMint, with Linux 3.2.0-23-generic (recovery mode)".Here were my options:

pepperminty wrote:Step 5 is impossible, because there was no line that began with "kernel".

@pepperminty,you are very close...here is just explanation, if you use grub legacy, then, it boots from kernel line that start with the word kernelsince now you boot with grub2, the kernel line has the word linux.....

so you are supposed to scroll to the linux line, move cursor untill the end of the line and type the commandrw init=/bin/bash

then ctrl-x or F10 to boot,

when it boots up, the console will look like this

(none) /#

your next step is to list your home directory (ls /home) to find your last login name

This method works, but requires another Linux system, either a Live Linux medium, either your Mint install medium, Knoppix, Slitaz, Puppy Linux, or similar on CD/DVD or USB key, whichever will boot on your computer, or another Linux install on your system.1) Boot into your Live Linux system.2) Mount your Mint root partition. If you don't see an icon on your desktop, you can open a Terminal instance and type fdisk -l (that is the lower case L) to find the device name for your root partition or open whatever partitioning software is available to you to get that information. It will look something like /dev/sdaX where X is the number of the partition on the hard drive.3) Still in Terminal, type

Change /dev/sda2 to point to the partition containing your Mint root partition, of course, and use the <username> of the user which you need to change the password.4) Type in the new password twice as prompted.5) Use exit or Ctrl-D key combination to exit chroot and then the terminal.6) Reboot and use the newly assigned password.

cwsnyder wrote:I'm sorry one of the above methods didn't work for you.

This method works, but requires another Linux system, either a Live Linux medium, either your Mint install medium, Knoppix, Slitaz, Puppy Linux, or similar on CD/DVD or USB key, whichever will boot on your computer, or another Linux install on your system.1) Boot into your Live Linux system.2) Mount your Mint root partition. If you don't see an icon on your desktop, you can open a Terminal instance and type fdisk -l (that is the lower case L) to find the device name for your root partition or open whatever partitioning software is available to you to get that information. It will look something like /dev/sdaX where X is the number of the partition on the hard drive.3) Still in Terminal, type

Change /dev/sda2 to point to the partition containing your Mint root partition, of course, and use the <username> of the user which you need to change the password.4) Type in the new password twice as prompted.5) Use exit or Ctrl-D key combination to exit chroot and then the terminal.6) Reboot and use the newly assigned password.

Dear cwsynder, or anybody who knows,Will the above method work with an encrypted file volume? During the installation of Linux Mint 13, it asked whether I wanted to encrypt the file volume, and I chose "Yes."

The above instructions should work because when you installed linux and it asked if you wanted to encrypt your "home" folder, it doesn't encrypt everything else.

Alternatly you can boot a live cd, mount your partition, open /(wherver you mounted your partition)/etc/shadow in a text editor, and look for your username. When you find it, it will look something like this.

What you need to worry about is the long string of test between the two colons right after your username, that is your password hash, it will be different from mine. What you need to do is delete the password hash it so it looks like this.

The above instructions should work because when you installed linux and it asked if you wanted to encrypt your "home" folder, it doesn't encrypt everything else.

Dear CalebW, cwsynder, and others,

Where (At what stage of bootup) do I enter those commands?

UPDATE: Looking at viewtopic.php?f=47&t=117601&p=721840#p675871, I think the answer to my own question is "Using a live Linux system". So I'll go ahead and put a live Linux distro onto USB and try cwsynder's instructions. I'll post back with results.

CalebW and Cwsnyder,Thank you for your posts. After many months, the problem is now solved. Cwsnyder, thank you for initially posting your instructions in January 2013. I neglected to try it out until today, when Calebw reminded me of your post. Thanks Calebw for the reminder. It feels good to be back into Linux Mint.